Benthonic foraminifera as indicators of intertidal environments

Recent benthonic foraminifera respond to even minor changes in environmental conditions. On the basis of statistical analyses of both foraminiferal population and bottom sediments, a new morphological terminology for the Lagoon of Venice is presented.The various geomorphic units are here differentiated on the basis of the relative occurrence of subpopulations that respond to local physicochemical and biological parameters. This reduces the need to evaluate the tolerance limits of each individual species, necessary to identify environments in terms of species or groups of species.